Three essays on young married women in Egypt

Abstract

This thesis empirically studies three aspects of marriage pertaining to young women in Egypt using a young people specific Survey of Young People in Egypt 2009.

The first essay investigates the determinants of the marriage valuation of young women in Egypt through the value of the jewellery received on marriage. The empirical analysis focuses on the role of circumcision, kinship marriages and the competitiveness in the marriage market in determining the marriage valuation of young women. A Cox proportional hazard model as well as a Heckman-two step model is used to correct for selection into marriage using circumcision as the identifier variable. The analysis allows the computation of the returns to investments in female’s human capital in the marriage market and the comparison with the similar returns in the labour market. The overall results show the role of circumcision in the marriage prospects of women rather than the marriage valuation. Kinship marriages, although popular in the Arab region show no impact on the marriage valuation of young women. Marriage market competitiveness, however, significantly determines young women’s marriage valuation. The comparison between the returns to female’s investments in education in both the marriage market and the labour market show the high degree of substitutability between the two market.

The second essay investigates the determinants of young wives’ happiness in marriage. The analysis investigates the role of institutions (religiosity and social trust), the time use of the wife, living with in-laws as well as inter-marital discussions using an ordered probit model. The results suggest the significance of the demographic and the economic variables in determining young wives’ marital happiness. However, the mutual relationship with the husband and the inter-marital discussions appear to play a more significant role in determining the marital happiness of young wives.

Finally, the third essay adds the labour market outcomes of the husband to the ordered probit model of the wives’ marital happiness. The analysis investigates the role of the husband’s labour market outcomes, the time use of the husband and the social network of the husband on the wife’s marital happiness. a heterogeneous impact of husband’s annual earnings (in the rural areas) and the time the husband allocates to joint leisure